May 2006 Seattle Perl Users Group (SPUG) Meeting
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Title: Perl at IMDb
Speaker: Murray Chapman
Meeting Date: Tuesday, 16 May 2006
Meeting Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Whitepages.com offices
Cost: Admission is free and open to the general public
Info: http://seattleperl.org/
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Please join us Tuesday evening on 16 May 2006 at the regular monthly
meeting of the Seattle Perl Users Group. Murray Chapman takes us inside
the studio and on to the backlot for a glimpse into the Perl magic that
keeps the reels turning at the Internet Movie Database. Come meet this
star of script and web scenes made famous around the world.
Thanks goes to SPUG-Workers for doing all the work to organize this
presentation and to our speaker for giving their time and knowledge to us.
See below for more information on...
- Speaker Background
- Presentation Description
- Meeting Location
Speaker Background
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Murray Chapman
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Murray is the manager of the technology team at IMDb; their role is to
build and operate the website, development platform, and other internal
tools. Murray has been with IMDb since 1993 when it was a hobby project
coordinated via rec.arts.movies. Following the April 1998 aquisition by
Amazon.com, he moved from Brisbane, Australia to Seattle to spearhead the
integration effort. He is a movie and computer geek, which makes IMDb the
perfect environment for him!
Presentation Description
========================
Perl at IMDb
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The Internet Movie Database is a top-100 website with an large amount of
highly-interlinked data. They see themselves as a technology company
rather than a media or entertainment company, having custom-built
essentially all of our software in Perl. Murray wants to share some of the
lessons they have learned about Perl: what works, what doesn't, and what
we wish it could do -- as well as discussing practical information about
building and operating an ultra-high-volume website as part of a team that
is distributed across the globe.
Meeting Location
================
Whitepages.com is located on the 16th floor of the Rainier Square Tower
(1301 5th Avenue, Seattle) which is across from the 5th Avenue Theater.
See the directions[1] for a quick primer on how to reach us from various
locations across Puget Sound.
There are plenty of locations to park in the area, including on the
street. If you're looking for off-street parking, you can park in the
Rainier Square garage which has an entrance on Union St.
After 6PM, the building management restricts access to most floors. Our
host is trying to take care of this, but if unsuccessful, they will
station someone on the 1st floor near the elevator bank and 5th Avenue
entrance to let people in. Worst case scenario, give our host a call on
his cell phone[2] and he'll run down to let you in.
Our hosts are providing a generous assortment of free sodas, fruit drinks,
teas, and coffee, and also have some snacks. You definitely won't
dehydrate here.
We look forward to seeing you!
[1] - http://www.whitepagesinc.com/locations
[2] - (206) 579-7113